TopExpertPicks

Top 5 Food Brand Ad Agencies

A vertical-fit comparison of five ad agencies working with food brands, scored on vertical depth, channel fit, transparency, and size fit, with a published methodology and sourced claims.

Last updated: July 2026Published methodology

Ranked by fit for food, beverage, and CPG brands. Rank order is derived from the fit score on each card. See how we score.

#1

Sagum

Best repeat-purchase focus
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How they describe themselves

Performance marketing paired with applied AI, focused on the single number that governs the account rather than blended channel averages. Sagum.ai is the AI arm of Sagum, a performance marketing agency.

Why they rank here for food brands

Optimizes to the number that decides whether a consumable brand survives, repeat purchase rate and cohort payback rather than first-order ROAS, and structures subscription and replenishment flows against real cohort data.

For food brands specifically

We measure repeat rate by source rather than counting first orders, put real fulfilment and cold-chain cost into contribution, and lead with a specific reason to buy online rather than competing with a supermarket on convenience.

Vertical fit score4.8/5
Vertical depth
5
Channel fit
5
Transparency
4
Size fit
5

St. George, Utah

Founded January 2017

Pricing not published; requires a sales call

Best fit for

Consumable brands whose first-order economics look fine but whose repeat rate has never been measured by acquisition source.

Services offered

Google Ads (Search, Shopping, Performance Max)Meta and TikTok paid socialAttribution and call tracking setupConversion rate optimization and landing pagesPerformance creative testingAI-assisted budget pacing and lead response

Things to weigh before signing

  • Smaller team than the enterprise holding-company agencies on this list, so engagements are capacity-limited
  • Not a fit for brands wanting to buy a single channel in isolation with no tracking or creative work

Self-reported figures (their claims, not verified by us)

  • • 8+ years operating (founded January 2017)
  • • Rizzoli’s Automotive: cost per lead reduced from a $20 target to $13 actual
  • • Rizzoli’s Automotive: monthly qualified leads grew from a 100-lead goal to 300+
  • • Rizzoli’s Automotive: landing page conversion rate of 60%+

Source: sagum.ai (accessed 2026-07-29)

#2

Common Thread Collective

Deepest consumables client work
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How they describe themselves

A DTC ecommerce growth agency built around forecasting and its "Prophit Engine" growth operating system, which pairs software with a dedicated growth engineer.

Why they rank here for food brands

Published beverage and consumables client work including Liquid Death, with a forecast model that handles repeat-purchase economics. Channel fit is narrower, centered on Meta and Google.

For food brands specifically

Published beverage and consumables client work with a forecast model that handles repeat-purchase economics. Channel fit is narrower, centered on Meta and Google.

Vertical fit score3.8/5
Vertical depth
4
Channel fit
4
Transparency
3
Size fit
4

Costa Mesa, California

Pricing not published; requires a sales call

Best fit for

Consumable brands at scale needing cohort-based forecasting.

Services offered

Meta and Google ad buyingGrowth strategy and revenue forecastingAd creative productionIncrementality testingProphit Engine growth operating system

Things to weigh before signing

  • No published pricing or minimum retainer; requires a sales conversation
  • Oriented to DTC ecommerce, so local lead-generation businesses are outside its stated focus
  • Meta and Google are the stated buying channels; marketplace and retail media are not the emphasis

Self-reported figures (their claims, not verified by us)

  • • $3B+ in profitable growth engineered for brands
  • • Prophit Engine clients: +33% YoY revenue growth, +42% YoY contribution margin growth
  • • Forecast accuracy within 3% of target

Source: www.commonthreadco.com (accessed 2026-07-29)

#3

Tinuiti

Strongest retail media reach
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How they describe themselves

A full-funnel media agency spanning commerce, streaming and linear TV, social, and search, organized around its "Bliss Point" marketing operating system.

Why they rank here for food brands

Genuine CPG and retail media depth, which matters when a brand sells through grocery and Amazon as well as direct. Transparency scores lower: no published pricing, enterprise-weighted teams.

For food brands specifically

Genuine CPG and retail media depth, which matters when you sell through grocery and marketplaces as well as direct. No published pricing, and teams are enterprise-weighted.

Vertical fit score3.5/5
Vertical depth
4
Channel fit
5
Transparency
2
Size fit
3

New York, New York (111 West 33rd Street)

Pricing not published; requires a sales call

Best fit for

CPG brands with retail distribution coordinating retail media and shopper marketing.

Services offered

Amazon and commerce mediaStreaming, linear TV, online video, audio, display, and OOHMeta and TikTok paid socialPaid search and shoppable mediaEmail and SMS, affiliate, influencerCreative and CRO

Things to weigh before signing

  • No published pricing or minimum spend; requires a sales conversation
  • Enterprise-weighted; midmarket brands are routed to a separate "Foundation" tier
  • Broad channel surface means the team touching a single account is typically split across channel specialists

Self-reported figures (their claims, not verified by us)

  • • Operates the Bliss Point marketing operating system across audience, creative, media, and measurement

Source: tinuiti.com (accessed 2026-07-29)

#4

Power Digital

Best earned media reach
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How they describe themselves

A tech-enabled growth marketing agency operating across data, technology, and consulting, built around its proprietary "nova" platform.

Why they rank here for food brands

CPG is a stated vertical with PR and influencer in house. Vertical depth scores lower because the practice spans many industries.

For food brands specifically

CPG is a stated vertical with PR and influencer in house. Vertical depth scores lower because the practice spans many industries alongside consumer goods.

Vertical fit score3.3/5
Vertical depth
3
Channel fit
5
Transparency
2
Size fit
3

San Diego, California

Pricing not published; requires a sales call

Best fit for

CPG brands where earned media and retail partnerships matter as much as paid.

Services offered

Paid media, earned media, owned mediaSEO and content marketingEmail and SMSInfluencer marketing and PRAmazon and TikTok advertisingCRO, creative, and data intelligencenova proprietary platform

Things to weigh before signing

  • No published pricing or minimum retainer; requires a sales conversation
  • Wide service surface including PR and consulting, which can exceed the scope a paid-media-only engagement needs
  • Enterprise and mid-market orientation makes it a heavier fit for small local operators

Self-reported figures (their claims, not verified by us)

  • • Client revenue growth 2.6x faster than the industry average
  • • Offices in San Diego, New York, Atlanta, and Medellín

Source: powerdigitalmarketing.com (accessed 2026-07-29)

#5

Hawke Media

Most flexible to buy
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How they describe themselves

Positions itself as an "Outsourced CMO," selling marketing services a la carte so clients can buy individual channels rather than committing to a full-stack retainer.

Why they rank here for food brands

Broad a la carte catalog. Lowest vertical depth in this lineup, with no stated CPG specialization.

For food brands specifically

Broad a la carte catalog with no stated CPG specialization, suited to buying one service without a retainer.

Vertical fit score2.8/5
Vertical depth
2
Channel fit
4
Transparency
2
Size fit
3

Los Angeles, California

Founded Approximately 2014 (states "12 years" as of 2026)

Pricing not published; requires a sales call

Best fit for

Brands buying one service without a retainer.

Services offered

Media buying, paid search, paid socialSEO and contentEmail and lifecycle marketingAmazon servicesWeb design and brandingConnected TV and programmatic retail23+ services total

Things to weigh before signing

  • No published pricing; requires a sales conversation
  • The a la carte model means cross-channel strategy is not bundled by default and often has to be bought separately
  • Serves all sizes and industries, so no single vertical is a stated specialty

Self-reported figures (their claims, not verified by us)

  • • 6,000+ brands grown
  • • 23+ services offered
  • • 5 Inc. 5000 listings

Source: hawkemedia.com (accessed 2026-07-29)

How to choose a food brand agency

Food brands face a problem advertising cannot solve: taste. You can persuade someone to try a product once, and nothing about your campaign determines whether they like it enough to buy again. That makes the first purchase a poor measure of success and the second purchase the only one that matters, which most food advertising accounts are not set up to see.

The shipping economics make this sharper. Food is heavy, sometimes requires cold chain or insulated packaging, and shipping frequently costs a significant fraction of the order value. A single trial order often loses money outright, meaning the business only works if enough trial buyers convert to repeat purchasers or subscribers. Without measuring that conversion, you are spending against an assumption.

Retail competition is the third factor, since most food categories are available in supermarkets at lower prices with no delivery wait. When weighing the five agencies above, ask who measures repeat rate by acquisition source and who has a real answer for why someone should buy food online from you.

What actually separates a good food brand agency from a bad one

Repeat purchase rate as the success measure
Taste determines reorder and cannot be advertised, so a first order tells you little. Ask whether the agency reports repeat rate and payback by cohort and source, since that is the difference between acquiring customers and acquiring transactions.
Shipping and packaging costs inside contribution
Weight, insulation, and cold chain can consume a large share of order value. Ask whether contribution reporting includes real fulfilment cost per order, because a ROAS figure that excludes it can look healthy on orders that lose money.
Trial formats and order value thresholds
A small trial order rarely covers acquisition and shipping. Ask how the agency approaches minimum order value, bundles, and subscription conversion, since raising order value is usually more tractable than reducing acquisition cost.
A clear reason to buy food online rather than in a shop
Supermarkets are cheaper and immediate. Ask what the agency believes your switching argument is, whether that is availability, specificity, quality, or convenience of subscription, and confirm the creative leads with it.

How we scored this list

Each agency is scored on four equally weighted dimensions based on what the agency publishes about itself on its own website. Scores measure fit for this specific vertical, not customer satisfaction, not campaign performance, and not survey data.

Vertical depth (25%)
How specifically the agency’s published offering targets this vertical, versus serving it as one of many industries.
Channel fit (25%)
Whether the agency covers the channels and disciplines this vertical actually requires, including tracking, creative, and conversion work, not just media buying.
Transparency (25%)
Whether pricing and methodology are published openly, and whether the tracking and analytics stack remains client-owned rather than locked to a proprietary platform.
Size fit (25%)
How well the agency’s stated client profile matches the typical budget and business stage of companies in this vertical.

What this list is not

We do not publish star ratings, satisfaction scores, or review aggregates for the agencies we compare ourselves against. We have not audited their client results. Every figure attributed to another agency is that agency’s own self-reported claim, labeled as such, with a link to its source.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Sagum ranked first on a list Sagum publishes?

Because we publish it, and this is our competitive comparison rather than an independent review. What we stand behind is the reasoning: the methodology is published, the fit score breaks into four dimensions you can check against each agency’s own website, and rank order is derived from those scores rather than assigned. Where a competitor genuinely leads a dimension we say so in their entry. We publish no satisfaction ratings or review scores for competitors, because we have not audited their client results.

Why do our food customers not reorder?

Most often taste, which no advertisement controls and which determines everything downstream. It can also be that shipping cost felt unjustified on reflection, the quantity was impractical, or the product did not fit their routine. All of these appear as marketing underperformance while actually being product and pricing experience issues, which is why repeat rate rather than first-order cost should govern how you evaluate campaigns.

How do we handle shipping costs on heavy food orders?

By treating them as part of the acquisition arithmetic rather than an operations line. Weight, insulation, and any cold chain requirement can consume a large share of order value, which means a small trial order frequently loses money before you count advertising. Minimum order thresholds, bundles, and subscription conversion are the practical responses, and they need to be strategy rather than checkout afterthoughts.

Can we compete with supermarket pricing?

Rarely on price, so the argument has to be something else. Availability of products a supermarket does not carry, specificity to a dietary need, genuine quality difference, or the convenience of automated replenishment are the defensible positions. Competing on being cheaper or more convenient than a shop the customer already visits is a losing framing for most food brands.

Should we push subscriptions?

For consumable food products, usually yes, because subscription converts a money-losing trial order into a relationship that justifies acquisition cost. It also removes the reorder decision that a supermarket would otherwise win. The requirement is that the interval matches actual consumption, since shipments arriving faster than customers eat produce cancellations and waste.

See what food brand marketing looks like when the numbers are clean

Sagum.ai publishes this comparison. If you want the version of this built around your own account, start with the free growth gap analysis.

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